Bloodbent
by Zuko of the Water Tribe
Summary: When things go terribly wrong in the fight against Azula, Zuko must make the choice that could change the world. If he chooses wrong, someone will die. Zutara, but this IS a tragedy.


So he ran to protect her.

Her long brown locks dazzled over her eyes, which were wide open, not even considering blinking. Her tan skin flashed blue and white in the lightning's shadow, and she was staring, not seeing, fear paralyzing her. Her ice blue eyes matched the color of the deadly bolt flying towards her now perfectly, and he had to protect those eyes. He couldn't bear to see them close, even while she slept. This would lead to so much worse.

And so he ran to protect her.

He didn't see it when she caught his movement. He didn't see her blink and gasp, and didn't hear her cry of "No!". He didn't realize that she was staring at him now, her pupils shrinking into barely-there specks. And he didn't see it when she rose her hands and grabbed.

Instead, he felt it.

His body was beyond his control, he couldn't move, not at all. He couldn't even blink. He knew what she was doing a moment before she did it. Desperately, he made a wordless scream erupt from his throat, begging her not to. She couldn't, she couldn't, he could do this! But she was already moving her arms, and, in turn, his blood, his body.

He was aware of two things. One, she was controlling him, flipping him onto his back as he crashed into the ground, and he didn't even ricochet off the stone, just stopped dead. Two, the lightning was flashing over his body, not even touching him, like a living tree branch climbing over him and towards her.

And, as he watched, she let him go, and dropped her arms, utterly exausted. He realized the moon was gone, replaced by the demon comet. She was weak. Too weak to even stare her demise in the face. She merely watched the bolt come through her eyelashes, and pitifully lifted her arms towards it, as if to hug it.

"No! Katara, move, God, move!" He was begging her, and the strike was moving too slowly, and she heard him. She looked up at him, her eyes blank, then seeing him and filling with relief. "You're okay." Her pale lips mouthed the words, but he couldn't hear her. He could hear only the crackling, like fire burning down a building, a sound he knew well.

And then the bolt reached her.

Her face froze, and she went down like a shot bird. Just... crumpled, in slow motion. She hit the ground with a solid _thud_.

His blood chilled, and not like when she had bended it. Agony pulsed through his chest, crawling into his throat and coming out in a pure cry of pain, just a scream-like groan, animalistic, really. He squeezed his eyes shut and panted, not believing it, trying not to, knowing it, God, no, no.

Then he heard the other one of his left.

She was whimpering. He flipped his head around, tearing his eyes from the fallen pheonix that was Katara. The other one had was backing up, staring in horror at the girl, her hand coming up slowly to cover her mouth, and she seemed to cough violently, her eyes terrified. The dark black bangs around her face, sliced sideways violently, flew around her golden eyes. Her eyes flashed and she coughed again, pupils flying around her surroundings. She seemed utterly terrified, clenching her teeth and hissing through them, and she blinked violently. He watched her stumble backwards, her free arm waving around, like it was dead. The one who had shot the lightning was scared now of death.

He watched her a moment more, watched her fall to the ground, much like the girl he had tried to protect had, then forced himself to look back to the girl dressed in blue, on the floor, some ten feet away.

The first movement took ages. He felt like his blood wouldn't move, like she still had some kind of control over him, and she didn't want him close.

But after that, he pushed himself to move faster. He had to get over to her, maybe, maybe she was okay, maybe he could save her, maybe, maybe, so many ifs. He had to know, know now, now, was she... was she dead?

He crawled over to her with one arm, shoving his legs behind him and army-crawling. She lay there, and he studied her body wretchedly. No movement of her lungs, she wasn't breathing.

The boy reached her, finally, and climbed up onto his knees. He merely stared at her a minute, his eyes burning in anger and hopelessness and held-back tears. Then, he reached out and grabbed her wrist, clenching and praying.

Nothing. He desperately shook her arm, tears finally breaking free. "Wake up!" He demanded, "Wake up now! Please!" He fell over her, weariness suddenly taking over, and slipped his hand around hers. His other arm came and held her neck, hoping, hoping, please.

He waited, his face pressed against her stomach, one arm awkwardly refusing to let her hand go and bending strangely across her legs, the other reaching over her chest and gripping her neck in a tightness close to choking. He panted, squinching his eyes and biting down on his tongue.

And still, nothing. No beat.

Agonized, he let her go like she had burned him, falling away from her onto his butt. He could still hear the other one crying behind him, and an idea sparked into his mind.

It wouldn't hurt to try. After all, he was the only one truely alive right now.

He stood shakily, tried to walk, and fell, crashing to his knees. Angered, he pressed himself forward towards the other one, while she shook and curled into a ball.

He paused a few feet from her when she looked up through her hair.

"Azula!" he roared, pressing his fingers into the stone. "Help me!"

She panted wildly at him, tears running down her face. "I can't trust you, no, no, no one, not a one, not even my friends, fear, fear only, it takes the pain away, yes, pain isn't good, pain hurts, no, no, don't trust you!" She babbled wildly, glaring at him through her tears. "No, no - "

"AZULA!" he screamed again, reaching out to grip her arm.

The other one screeched like she was in agony and shimmied herself away from him, dragging herself along the stone.

"Stay away, stay away, she's not dead, not dead, not anymore, you killed her, you did, stay away away away from me YOU STAY AWAY!" The other one screamed and clenched her fists to her temples, pupils not even there anymore, just eerily golden irises in the fire.

"HELP ME, NOW, YOU DEMON!" He snatched her arm and dug in his fingernails. "YOU WILL BRING HER BACK OR SO HELP ME I WILL _KILL YOU!_"

Despair expanded the other one's pupils again. "No no no no no no I will not trust you you are the one she loved more never loved me no no daddy's little girl and mommy's son she never loved me it was always you wasn't it and you never cared I will not trust you get back get back LET GO OF ME!" The other one's fingernails raked across his face and he screamed and fell back away from her.

She was hissing at him, claws still curved and teeth bared.

He glared at her, but tried to compose himself before he totally lost it and did something he would regret later.

"Azula..." He said quietly, as if talking to a baby, comforting her. "It's okay... I won't hurt you... just please, please come here. You don't want the birdy to die, do you?" His thoughts flashed back to the girl that was dying behind him - or perhaps already dead - and his teeth ground together. "Please... it's okay..."

The other one panted, her fingers twitching against the stone and she spasmed once. "Z...Zuko?" Her eyes were totally innocent suddenly, raw, like a child who doesn't know when it's done something wrong.

"Yes, yes, it's me."

"What... what did I do? Where's mother?"

He frowned and bit his lip so hard more blood dribbled across his mouth even as her scratches bled on his cheeks and forehead and scar. "Azula. Mother isn't here. Right now... a beautiful birdy needs your help. Do you want to help her?"

The other one's eyes glazed over. "What... was it me?"

He stared at her, and something glistened in her eyes, and he knew she knew what she'd done. Her hair fell over her cheeks. She was just a broken doll, he realized, not even real anymore.

He turned from her and she was no longer there for him.

He dragged himself to the girl and struggled to remember his uncle's words. How to redirect the thing that had hurt her... But what had he done to create it?

He felt total despair weigh him down. He knew if he just laid down next to her, eventually, he would be as her, and the pain would leave him and he would be gone, not mentally like the other one, but physically as the girl he was holding was or would be soon.

It was tempting.

But then, he gazed down at her, her dark, warm locks falling over her cheeks and her face looking blissfully gone. Her eyes closed.

The thought that he would never see her eyes again brought to him strength. He had to help her any way he could. At least then, if she truely was gone, he would at least know that he had done his best.

Her hair toppled over his arms as he picked her up bridal style and turned to the other one. The other one was staring at him, eyes burning in confusion and misery.

"You are a lost soul, Azula. I'm sorry." He turned from the other one, his sister, the deadly, insane tiger, and he began to run with all the strength his legs held.


End file.
